Some nuclear medicine physicians are expressing concern about the selection of one of their peers as special adviser to the health minister on the isotope shortage.

Dr. Alexander (Sandy) McEwan was the personal choice of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, and his appointment was finalized without input from doctors, said Dr. Norman Laurin , the incoming president of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine (CANM).

"We feel the nomination of an individual without proper consultation infringes on his ability to speak freely to the government, and we feel that if he was nominated by his peers and if he had to respond to his peers, he would have to do a better job," Laurin said.

"If you've been picked personally by a minister and not the object of a formal recommendation, you are somehow indebted to that minister."

The appointment, announced Monday, is part of a series of initiatives that show the government is on top of the isotope shortage, Aglukkaq said at a news conference at the Ottawa Heart Institute on Tuesday.

"We have been taking action on a number of fronts to address the medical needs of Canadians during this shortage," Aglukkaq said.

Other candidates selected

On June 11, before the announcement of McEwan's appointment, the CANM wrote to a Health Canada official and expressed concern about a lack of consultation with doctors on the appointment. On June 12, the association followed up and recommended three other doctors for the position.

"As discussed, the CANM board are nominating Dr. Philip Cohen from British Columbia, Dr. Albert Driedger from Ontario and Dr. Jean-Paul Soucy from Quebec for advising the federal minister on medical isotopes issues and nuclear medicine in general," the association wrote in an email.

Vague job description

Despite concerns about his objectivity, nuclear medicine physicians acknowledge McEwan is highly qualified. He's the chair of the department of oncology at the University of Alberta and the past president of the board of directors for the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

Dr. Christopher O'Brien, the head of the Ontario Association of Nuclear Medicine, said he's not concerned about McEwan's objectivity but rather his job description.

"We still don't know his terms of reference or his mandate," O'Brien said.

"I'm very anxious — as is the nuclear medicine community very anxious — to see how we interact with Dr. McEwan and to ensure that the [nuclear medicine] centres in Canada are able to get their concerns forward to him and through him to the minister of health."

Government stands by pick

Josée Bellemare, a spokesperson for the minister of health, responded to the concerns, challenging the suggestion that McEwan does not have the support of some of his peers.

"He is a member of the ad hoc group of experts that was created after the 2007 Chalk River shutdown," Bellemare said in an email to CBC News.

"The ad hoc group fully supported his appointment. His unique qualifications will enhance our ability to match supply problems with effective solutions."